No Escape

Aftermath

"She tried to break up with me."

Spencer looked up from the tea she was preparing, and she looked towards the side to meet Aria's gaze. They exchanged something only friends who had been together for years could, and Spencer finished preparing the tea, while Aria sat beside Emily.

"What did you do?" Hanna's voice was gentle, and Emily hated it. She didn't want the pity. She wanted someone to understand. Lately it felt like her three other friends were just waiting for things to fall apart between Alison and her, and it wasn't making it any easier for her to deal with -A.

Emily looked up from her phone to give Aria a challenging look. "I didn't let her." Emily dropped her eyes again, staring at the message she'd failed to look at the night before. "She broke down after that."

She was only half conscious that she'd admitted to that while she looked down at her hand re-reading the message for the umpteenth time.

Next time I won't miss. But maybe if you break up with her, I won't keep trying to kill her. You're choice, Killer. -A

Emily ran her hand through her hair, suddenly unsure about Alison and her being together. She'd purposefully let Alison make the first move in bringing their relationship forward. She'd avoided making any decisions on her own except for asking Alison out to the Christmas Ball. Because deep down Emily was still scared of making a decision that would lead to her heartbreak. At least when Alison made them, she was sure Alison wanted them. And she was sure now, Emily thought. Alison was sure she wanted the two of them together.

"It doesn't seem like -A is giving you much of a choice now."

"And wouldn't you like that, right, Spence?" Emily stood, away from the comfort of Aria's presence.

"Spencer didn't mean-"

Emily only had to look at Aria to shut her up. Then she sighed. "Look, I know you all want us to split up, but can't you be my friend right now and not agree with -A that it's better for us to be apart?"

"Hey." Hanna approached Emily until she was right in front of her. "We're always your friend first."

Emily didn't look convinced.

"I swear! Even if it doesn't seem like it."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Can you seem like it, then, because I really need you guys right now. I don't know what to do about this."

Spencer approached her now, too. "We're always here for you Emily."

Emily felt her shoulders slump, just before she felt two pairs of arms surround her. She did miss them. She just wasn't sure why being with Alison and being with them were two completely different things. She couldn't understand why they had to fight so hard to keep her away from Alison.

"Hey, I offered to cook food and I get excluded from group hugs? Thanks, guys." Emily laughed and motioned for her to join in which actually only made the hug feel awkward the longer it got.

"Ok, this is getting weird."

"You're gay. Shouldn't you be enjoying this the most?"

Spencer and Aria looked as if they couldn't believe what had just come out of Hanna's mouth. "Seriously. You need to develop a social filter. And you need to turn it on all the time."

Emily only shook her head, laughing. "Thanks for being here."

She felt a squeeze on her shoulder, and didn't care whose hand it was. She was just glad they still had her back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alison was giggling at something Emily said when Pam knocked on Emily's open door. It had been three days since her house exploded, and Alison had already stayed at Spencer's and Emily's. She was set to stay at Hanna's that night, but she was spending a few hours after class with her girlfriend before she did. Alison was starting to feel like a freeloader to all her friends, but her father failed to contact after the incident.